Sherri’s IM Survey

Now it’s still very early, and the survey has only been up for 2 days (20 responses so far), but I’m noticing a peculiar trend in the responses: 90% of respondents currently use IM, and 90% have never used the UNLV Chat Reference service. The next question asks “if the service were offered, would you use Instant Messaging to ask a librarian for research help?” Again, 90% responded ‘yes.’

This is good stuff to ponder. Sherri does mention the VR service has not been promoted too much, which happens a lot. But her point speaks volumes: maybe IM is better because it supports ” the ‘embedded’ service concept: provide help for people where and when they use it most.” Yup… I’d be looking very closely at the ROI of that VR service…